Tiger Woods feeling good after Open Championship practi...

Tiger: Watson should select me for Ryder Cup

Mike Ehrmann/Getty

Despite barely making the cut at this week’s British Open and finishing 23 shots behind champion Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods thinks U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson should select him for the Ryder Cup team.

“‘That's my position, my take on it,’ Woods said. ‘He's the captain. Obviously, it's his decision. He's going to field the best 12 players that he thinks will win the cup back. And I hope I'm on that team’."

Watson downplayed Woods’ level of play this week as just a “snapshot,” implying it didn’t reflect absolutely on Woods’ abilities after coming off of back surgery this spring. But when informed of Woods’ final-round performance, Watson remarked Woods score “wasn’t very good.”

Woods nonetheless remained encouraged by his play at The Open and indicated he’s working to get back to full strength.

“‘There's a lot of things I need to work on, but I haven't been able to work a lot,’ Woods said. ‘I was down for three months. So I'm just now starting to come back. ... I'm still building’.”

The 64-year-old Watson finished five strokes ahead of Woods this weekend, posting a final round 4-under 68. Watson will wait to see more of Woods in his two remaining tournaments before Ryder Cup qualifying ends before he makes a decision.